2022 discharge: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)

The European Parliament decided to grant discharge to the Director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) for the financial year 2022 and to approve the closure of the accounts for that year.

Noting that the Court of Auditors stated that it had obtained reasonable assurance that the Centre's annual accounts for the financial year 2022 were reliable and that the underlying transactions were legal and regular, Parliament adopted, by 534 votes to 46 with 22 abstentions, a resolution containing a series of recommendations which form an integral part of the discharge decision and which complement the general recommendations contained in the resolution on the performance, financial management and control of EU agencies.

Centre’s financial statements

The EMCDDA's final budget for 2022 was EUR 18 893 136, representing a decrease of 0.71 % compared to 2021.

Budgetary and financial management

Parliament noted with satisfaction that the budget monitoring efforts during the financial year 2022 resulted in a budget implementation rate of 98.78 % (a decrease of 1.22 % compared to 2021). The payment appropriations execution rate was 96.65 %, representing a slight increase of 0.30 % compared to 2021. The implementation rate of payment appropriations carried over from 2021 to 2022 was 88.98 %.

Other observations

Parliament also made a series of observations concerning performance, staff policy and internal control.

In particular, it noted that:

- the Centre defined 65 annual targets, of which 57 targets (87 %) were achieved in 2022;

- for the 2022 work programme, the Centre achieved 152 out of 188 of the outputs/results (81 %), partially achieved 12 % of them (i.e. 23 outputs/results, which were delayed and were in progress at the end of 2022), while 12 results (6 %) were not implemented and two results were not applicable. Most of the delays or cancellations of activities in 2022 were caused by a lack of resources. Therefore, for the implementation of its new mandate (expected to apply from 2024), in 2022 the Centre started preparations which involved key resources and required some adjustments in some of its previously planned activities;

- in 2022, the Centre released a new rapid mixed-method trend spotter study to assess the initial service response to the needs of displaced Ukrainians in neighbouring countries within the Union;

- the Centre participated in drug related training events and capacity building, managing to transfer its knowledge to almost 950 professionals working in the drug field, including law enforcement officers and policymakers;

- the Centre implemented several projects designed to enhance the environmental performance, by improving the electricity consumption, installing solar power cells on the roof of the building, as well as installing electric car-sharing stations with a view to replacing the Centre’s vehicle fleet with electric or hybrid vehicles;

- on 31 December 2022, the establishment plan was 97 % implemented, with six officials and 68 temporary agents appointed out of seven officials and 69 temporary agents authorised under the Union budget (76 authorised posts in 2022, same as in 2021);

- the Centre continued its ongoing efforts to secure transparency, prevent and manage conflicts of interest, and provide whistleblower protection. Moreover, it did not meet lobbyists in 2022;

- the result of the 2022 assessment of the effectiveness of the Centre’s internal control systems stated that all components are present and functioning.